A well-known businessman was the lone bidder Thursday for the vacant and decaying Bedford Street police station, and he’s ready to knock it down.

Joseph Ruggiero Sr., of Barrington, R.I., bid the minimum, which was the amount owed in taxes: $60,360.

“I’m helping the city out because, believe me, it (the building) is a catastrophe,” Ruggiero said at the bid opening, joined by Mayor Will Flanagan.

Flanagan said he showed Ruggiero the station this week and called him again at 5 a.m. Thursday morning to say the city “needed help with the police station.”

Flanagan said remediating and demolishing the century-old police station “is about a $600,000 job,” according to environmental experts Ruggiero brought inside on Wednesday.

Ruggiero, who bought and renewed First Ford in Fall River last year, has owned many auto dealerships and recently sold The Regatta on the Taunton River, among dozens of other business ventures.

The bid is considered “responsive” and the Fall River Redevelopment Authority is expected to act on awarding it, most likely next week.

Mold, asbestos and layers of fuel oil have been reported in the building and underground. One possible plan for Ruggiero is to put up a parking garage on the 1/3-acre site at 158 Bedford St.

Ruggiero met the bid requirements on the purchase amount with a $6,000 deposit and by submitting the required tax-compliance certificate and noncollusion affidavit.

His proposal basically checked off that he’d make the property across from the fire station a parking lot, while stating he was seeking city help with asbestos and environmental cleanup.

That could take the form of state or federal environmental grants, although Flanagan said such assistance is complicated by the fact the city is responsible for environmental problems at the police station.

It’s been vacant for 16 years, and the city obtained it last year from the most recent of several problematic owners since 2007. The Lambert administration and City Council sold the police station that year for $160,000. Casper Holdings LLC in Florida was the last owner and left unpaid taxes when the company transferred the deed to the city.

Ruggiero’s written bid said he’d pay the $60,000 in cash to buy the property and complete some level of development in “90 days” after obtaining the property.

He responded more broadly after Purchasing Agent Timothy McCoy opened the only bid Ruggiero submitted about 15 minutes before the 11 a.m. deadline.

“I’m going to knock it down as soon as possible,” he said. He pegged it at 30 days after taking ownership and obtaining permits he needs from the city and state.

Flanagan noted the granite eagle and badge atop the building, which was built about 1915, would be preserved.

Along with asbestos removal, he said underground fuel tanks and a hydraulic lift “that might go down as far as 25 feet” underground has left diesel and gasoline fuel that need to be removed from the premises.

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On why he’d spend $60,000 and another $600,000 for building removal on a .35-acre lot when the land is valued a little more than $100,000, Ruggiero said, “It’s a long-term investment.”

He said he also hoped to obtain historic tax credits and environmental assistance.

“He’s taking a hit on behalf of the city today,” Flanagan said of Ruggiero, who became a member last week of the Fall River Office of Economic Development Board of Directors.

Flanagan, who chairs the FROED board, nominated him.

The police station was the second problem property the city opened bids on this week, after Tuesday’s lone bid for the Abbey Grill and Great Hall at nearby 100 Rock St.

Andrew Lombardi of Cranston, R.I., a contractor specializing in historic preservation, plans to renovate the former Central Congregational Church as a function hall, high-end restaurant and teahouse.

He bid $72,000, which was $2,000 above the minimum bid price.

Kenneth Fiola Jr., FROED executive vice president, said he expected the Redevelopment Authority to approve the single bids for each property.

“With regard to the police station, we’ve known all along that’s probably a knockdown … a parking lot or garage is the sort of use that can be conducive to that location,” Fiola said.

The FRRA tentatively planned to meet Thursday night, with policies in place for the board to transfer the two properties.